Auntie Liu saw her bleeding hand and frowned. "You're really a disgrace! Who allowed you to cut the vegetables? If you end up tainting any of the Master's food, do you think you'll be able to bear the consequences?"
The servant hurried her up. "Auntie Liu, hurry up. My boss is still waiting for my reply."
"All right, all right, I'll get her now." She looked around and yelled, "Auntie Wu, come in here!"
Auntie Wu came in, wiping her mouth and smiling. "Auntie Liu, what is it?"
Auntie Liu asked her sternly, "Were you the one who cooked the meat that was served to the Young Master's table?"
Auntie Wu looked at her, then looked at the servant. Her heart was pounding nervously as she asked, "What was wrong? Did the meat taste off?"
"That's right," said the servant.
"This…" Auntie Wu immediately turned pale with fright. All of a sudden, she remembered that when she had put the meat on the plate, she did notice that the color of the meat was a little strange. It had seemed a little too dark.
She had been too busy and hadn't done anything about it.
Who knew…
She suddenly pointed a finger at Yun Dai and snapped, "You little b*tch, spit it out! Did you secretly put stuff into the pot while I wasn't around?"
Auntie Liu frowned. "Auntie Wu, you'd better think carefully before you speak. Are you sure she's the one who did it?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Auntie Wu nodded resolutely. "I was busy taking out dishes, so I called her over to watch the fire for me. She must have randomly added things to the pot.
Auntie Liu looked at the servant.
The servant said, "In that case, you can come with me."
He pointed at Yun Dai.
Yun Dai's head was only filled with how she was going to kill that despicable man who had tried to violate her earlier, so she followed the servant out while still holding the knife.
The servant frowned. "We're going to see the Young Master, so why are you carrying a knife along?"
Auntie Liu quickly took the knife away from her and spoke much more gently than before, "Miss Yun, your lucky moment is here. Hurry up and follow him out."
Auntie Wu was stunned when she heard these words. "What lucky moment?"
"When that pot of meat was served, the Young Master's guests liked it very much, and they said they wanted to reward the one who'd cooked it." Auntie Liu glanced at Auntie Wu from the corner of her eyes and looked a little gleeful at Auntie Wu's misfortune.
Auntie Wu slapped her thigh hard and turned green in the face from her regret. "I didn't know…this…why didn't you say so earlier? I was the one who cooked the meat."
"Even if you say so now, it's too late!" Auntie Liu made a face and walked out.
Auntie Wu was so angry she was about to vomit blood.
Yun Dai followed the servant down the corridor and past three floral arches before finally walking into an opulent, luxuriously appointed room.
There were four or five young fancily dressed men seated around the table.
Yun Dai looked at all of them quickly, but she did not spot the man in light yellow among them.
"Eldest Young Master, she's the one who cooked the meat," the servant spoke respectfully to one of the men.
He looked at Yun Dai and saw that even though she was young, she looked very ordinary. He asked, "What's your name?"
"I'm…Yun."
"Yun, is it? It's very rare that Second Highness likes your food, so you will enter the palace and serve him well, do you hear me?" said Eldest Young Master. "If you don't serve him well and they track your family down, then it won't do anybody any good."
Yun Dai's shame and frustration began to fade as her brain started to calm down.
She still had Yan'er and her nanny's family to think about.
She couldn't implicate them just because she'd made one rash decision.
"Aren't you going to thank Eldest Young Master?" the servant reminded Yun Dai. "You're so lucky to get this chance to enter the palace."
Yun Dai bowed her head and replied, "Thank you so much, Eldest Young Master."
Rich men even gave their concubines away to each other, so a kitchen helper was nothing.
To her, she was just working to earn money, so it didn't matter where she worked.
The servant took her to look for the housekeeper, got her contract, gave her two coins as one month's compensation, and finally put her into a horse-drawn carriage.